A first-year advising class is one of your regular courses or labs, the instructor of which is also your academic advisor. Your instructor will teach you chemistry or philosophy, for example, and will also help you think about academic majors, schedule planning, and adjustment to college, as well as let you know about academic support services on campus. Your peer advisor is also connected to your advising class and works closely with your academic advisor to help you meet your goals.

Your Puget Sound course of study will be divided into three parts: the university core, the academic major, and elective classes. The university core lies at the heart of the liberal arts curriculum, introducing you to a wide range of disciplines and giving you the intellectual breadth you will need for whatever life goals you may ultimately choose. The academic major gives you the opportunity to study a single discipline in depth, developing proficiency and sophistication in that area of study. The number of classes required in the core and major are kept within strict limits by the faculty to allow you the flexibility to choose, or elect, additional classes that interest you. These classes are called electives, and some students use them to develop minors, others to develop proficiency in a language or mathematics or a science, and others simply to carry on the academic exploration they began as they met core requirements.

First-year advising classes are chosen from a group of offerings that either meet core requirements or serve as useful introductions to a major area of study. All entering first-year students begin their careers as undeclared majors, with selection of majors occurring in the second to fourth semesters of study, after exploring options in and out of the classroom. Your first-year advising class will give you the opportunity either to meet a core requirement or to explore an academic discipline of interest to you, or quite often both.

The Grow Core Curriculum requires first-year students to complete two seminars, consisting of a CONN 100-level course in their fall semester and a Critical Conversations Seminar (CCS) in spring. As you will see, there is great variety in first-year seminar offerings. These seminars guide students through an in-depth exploration of a focused area of interest and sharpen students’ skills in constructing persuasive arguments in an academic setting.

Additional core and graduation requirements, including at least one unit of coursework in each of three Divisions (Arts/Humanities, Natural Science/Mathematics, and Social Science/History Divisions), two upper-level Connections, two Knowledge, Identity, and Power (KNOW), an Experiential Learning, and the university language requirement are all laid out on the Grow Core Curriculum Curriculum pages. In each core area, a number of course options are offered, giving students considerable choice.  

By the time you come to campus in August, you will be registered for four courses, including a first-year advising class and CONN 100 seminar, as determined by your choices on the Advising Placement Questionnaire (APQ). For some of you, your first-year advising class and CONN-100 course will be the same class, such as CONN 109; Doodling, Brainstorming & Calligraphy. Other entering students will have separate advising and CONN 100 seminars. For example, you may be enrolled in a non-seminar advising class, such as LTS 200: Latina/o America - A Critical Introduction to Latino/a Studies, and a CONN 100-level course, such as CONN 123: Health and Exercise.

Advising course lists are listed on our First Year Advising Classes webpage and detailed in your APQ.

Review your APQ or detailed Connection 100-level courses descriptions for more information on the CONN 100-level course requirement.  

You will be enrolled in your first-year advising class for the fall term. The faculty member who teaches this class, however, will serve as your academic advisor until you declare a major, usually by the spring of your sophomore year. Your peer advisor is connected to you by the fall advising class you select but is assigned to support you for the entire first year.  

We will register you for four units, based upon your selections in your Advising Placement Questionnaire. You will meet with your academic and peer advisors during Passages to discuss any changes that might be necessary. As you prepare for this conversation, you can search fall courses in your myPugetSound portal. The more conversant and honest you are about your interests, the better your advising experience will be. At Puget Sound, we take a proactive approach to advising.

In most cases, there is no hurry to begin a major, and the entire first year can be used for academic exploration. If you are strongly inclined to begin work on a major in your first year, you should be sure to read descriptions in the Bulletin and discuss requirements with your advisors right away. There will be an academic fair the first weekend you arrive on campus where you can discuss majors, minors, and emphasis areas with faculty members. Curriculum Guides for all majors (and some minors) are also posted online and offer an excellent layout of a possible four year plan for any major. Be sure to check out the Curriculum Guides for your academic year, accessed from the Curriculum Guide landing page. Don’t be concerned if your first-year advising class is not offered in the department of your intended major; you will have the opportunity to make one or more of your other fall course choices from that department and there is ample space to explore several possibilities. That said, certain majors and interest areas must be started early. If you plan to pursue pre-medicine, pre-engineering, or music, we suggest the following courses:

  • Pre-Medicine, Pre-Dentistry, or Pre-Veterinary
    Biology 111
    Chemistry 110
    Mathematics 180 or 181 (based upon prior experience and discussion with PS math faculty members and advisors)
    You may want only two of these three challenging classes, with Chemistry 110 or BIOL 111 as the key choice.
  • Dual Degree Engineering
    Chemistry 110 
    Computer Science 161
    Mathematics 180 or 181 (based upon prior experience and discussion with PS math faculty members and advisors)
    Physics 121
    You may want only two or three of these challenging classes, with math and physics the key choices.
  • Music
    Music 101/103 (both for 0.5 unit and taken concurrently for 1 unit total)
    Ensemble course
    Music Lesson

No, not necessarily. Classes are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so the sooner you complete the questionnaire, the better your chance of being assigned to one of your selections in each category. If we are unable to place you in one of your selections, we will assign you to another class that appears appropriate to your interests. If you have questions about your assignment, please call 253.879.3250 or send an email to academicadvising@pugetsound.edu.

Because all first-year students must complete both a CONN 100-level (fall) and Critical Conversation Seminar (spring) seminar, regardless of any academic credit you may bring with you, none of these forms of advanced standing credit will affect your choice of seminars. However, in some cases, advanced standing credit will affect the choice of first-year advising classes. This credit may be awarded for AP or IB exams, or for college work completed before enrollment at Puget Sound. Some AP and IB work duplicates coursework taken in the first year, and although no core credit can be given for AP or IB work, some class placements may be affected by it. Online credit award information is available for AP tests and for IB tests. Even if you choose to research credit information on your own, be sure to ask your academic advisor and peer advisor to clarify policies on these awards before you finalize your fall schedule in August.

If you have taken college-level coursework at another institution, be sure to have your transcripts sent to the Office of the Registrar as soon as possible. Then, when you arrive on campus, direct your questions about your transfer credit to the university evaluator at 253.879.3219. Your academic advisor and peer advisor will help you to determine how credit accepted in transfer will affect your schedule selection.

Sending college-level transcripts and AP/IB scores can lead to a savings on time and money while at Puget Sound!

Review the descriptions of first-year advising classes and CONN 100 seminars. Choose four advising classes and six CONN 100 courses that appeal to you and list them, in preferred order, in the spaces provided on the Advising Placement Questionnaire. All classes chosen should be acceptable to you in both cases.

So, how do you narrow (or expand) your preferences in each category? Try to select from a variety of academic disciplines. For example, in selecting your advising class you might choose a laboratory science, social science or a humanities course, and a mathematics course, while in selecting your CONN 100 seminars you might select courses from several departments that interest you.

We place students in advising classes, based on many factors, primary of which are your choices submitted on the Advising Placement Questionnaire and on a first-come, first-served basis. We also factor in high school coursework, including AP and IB work, academic interests, and post-baccalaureate plans. Your fall schedule will be posted to your myPugetSound account on July 21, 2025.

Two courses are required for all students, with the following exceptions:

  • Students with a high school diploma from a school where the primary language of instruction was other than English require no further courses.
  • Heritage learners will need to take one course.
  • Students with AP language exam scores of 4 or 5 or IB higher level language scores of 5, 6, or 7 will need to take one course.
  • Students can use transfer credit to count for one or two courses. Each approved transfer course must be a minimum of 4 quarter credits or 3 semester credits, and approved by the Office of the Registrar.  

Courses satisfying the language requirement may also apply, when eligible, to Core, major, minor, and interdisciplinary emphasis requirements. 

Puget Sound’s advising philosophy holds that advisors offer counsel, not consent, in helping students formulate their academic programs. Students are ultimately responsible for their own academic decisions, though these decisions are better informed when developed with the insight of advisors. In that light, Puget Sound connects first-year students to an academic and peer advisor. Your advisors’ role is to support your overall success at Puget Sound, including:

  • getting to know you and staying up-to-date with your academic progress while at Puget Sound;
  • helping you understand the purposes of liberal education and to find accurate, up-to-date information about the university’s academic offerings and requirements;
  • assist you in developing a course of study, including core and major requirements as well as electives, which fits your academic background and educational and career goals;
  • provide you with information on-campus support agencies and offer appropriate referrals to them; and
  • offer you advising assistance at key points during the year, including registration
  • proactively support you and offer advising assistance should academic difficulties arise.

The Peer Advising Program connects you with a trained, experienced, and approachable student who will serve as your Peer Advisor (PA) during your first year. PAs are successful upper-division students who’ve been in your shoes and understand what it takes to thrive at Puget Sound. Their here to support your academic success by offering personalized, proactive, multidimensional advising that includes how to work with your professors, accessing campus resources to boost time management, study and reading skills, and more! Your PA works closely with your academic advisor to help you build a semester schedule that fits your goals. Most importantly, your PA is someone who knows the Puget Sound experience and is eager to help you navigate your first year. Want to know more? Check out what other first-year students have shared about the incredible support their PA offered them.